Müller remains at the helm for third year

The ninth edition of the Rome Film Festival will take place from 16-25 October this year, reverting to its original October slot from November, where it has been for the last two seasons.

The festival organisers have also confirmed that artistic director Marco Müller will remain at the helm, fulfilling the final year of his three-year contract.

When Müller took up his position in 2012, following eight years as artistic director at the Venice Film Festival, one of the first changes he made was to move the Rome event from October to November.

The move, which put Rome between heavyweight festivals Toronto and Venice in September and London in October, was a strategic attempt to draw more attention to the festival’s Business Street film market, as well as launching winter release movies targeting the holiday box office or angling for Oscar nominations in spring.

However it drew heavy criticism from the Turin Festival, which opened just days after the Rome event closed. Turin refused to move its long-established November dates in subsequent editions, including 2014.

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